Considering all things, I believe the popularity of MCSG has indeed decreased in the recent past and will continue to decrease in the future. I have a theory that the popularity of MCSG can be charted as a bell-curve such as this:
This form of a chart can be related to many things in life today, with MCSG being no exception. What this graph does is it describes how at first, MCSG was a new server, slowly gaining support. Support started increasing, probably due to large YouTubers using the servers to record their videos, thus attracting their fans to play on MCSG. The graph's apex represents a point in which MCSG was the most successful, boasting large numbers of players. However, YouTubers began leaving, new servers displayed more attractive features, and player experience gradually declined. I think that with these factors combined, MCSG now finds itself in a very slow decline in traffic to its servers.
To summarize, I believe MCSG has had its time in the spotlight. This "bell-curve" process of gradual growth, reaching an apex, and gradual decline is a natural occurrence.
However, I believe MCSG can do many things to buff up the fluctuation of players to their servers. In my mind, MCSG is somewhat stubborn in many areas. For example, I think the matchmaking process could be greatly improved as servers such as Badlion have done so, making it easy to quickly join a game and play without much issue. MCSG has so many unused servers that don't need to be around as they don't offer much of anything to the players. Instead of maintaining their pride and sticking with what has worked with the past,
I believe MCSG needs to realize that times are changing and that a transition into a more user-friendly system is necessary. Creating new and enriching experiences for its players will lead MCSG into a whole new world of opportunities.
I read another post a few minutes ago discussing the idea of an Unranked Survial Games game mode that would, in theory, relieve the stress and tension commonly associated with playing on MCSG and replacing it with a fun, lighthearted experience for players. I support the idea of an Unranked system 100% because, as I am sure many people can agree, MCSG has become competitive to a point of no return, making each game we play feel like its outcome will affect ourselves as players. By utilizing an Unranked system, I feel as if MCSG could expand its boundaries and reach out to those players who are not as intense about the game and often play for fun. Recording on these servers would also be much simpler, attracting more YouTubers to the servers.
With all things said, I also believe the staff of MCSG has to be much more active. No, this is not regarding moderators as there have been an increase in moderators recently it seems. However, MCSG seems to be "frozen in time", rarely adding new and interesting features for its players to experience. The MCSG twitter account rarely tweets anymore as well, making connection via social media seemingly pointless. Might this lack of initiative to reach out and connect with players be due to a decrease in popularity? Possibly. If this were the case, I believe it would be very hard to revive the servers to the same state of respect within the SG community as it once was in.
All of these points are my opinion of course, but I feel like there are many things that people can agree on when reading this. The key point of what I am trying to say is that
positive change on MCSG will only come if people, players, staff, and "forumers" alike take the initiative to make a change. MCSG is nothing without its community, and it is going down a negative path without it. The servers need to open their doors to new opportunities, connect better with its players, and create experiences that appeal to players.
Thanks for the read,
Ryan (IAmInfamous/infamouscookie)
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P.S. Feel free to reply to this post and tell me what you think, I would love to see what others agree or disagree on!
